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DNOs propose £23bn spend over ED2
All six electricity distribution network operators (DNOs) across Great Britain have now submitted their draft business plans for the RIIO-ED2 price control to Ofgem, with spending plans amounting to £23.2 billion. Utility Week looks into the details.
News
Ofgem should be slimmed down, its former economist claims
Ofgem “technocrats” are not well placed to decide the right balance between meeting net zero and cutting energy bills, the regulator’s former chief economist has told a House of Lords committee. Joe Perkins suggested a “stripped down” regulator may prove to be a more effective one.
News

Featured

It ain’t what you do…
Market-wide half hourly settlement is finally set to become a reality in 2025. But Ofgem’s long-awaited green light for the programme will not achieve a fully flexible energy system on its own. In her latest column exclusively for Utility Week members, Maxine Frerk discusses what else needs to be done to underline the message that timing matters.
Opinion
WPD: Answering our critics
Western Power Distribution chief executive Phil Swift explains how the company has responded to calls to be radical and ambitious in the second draft of its business plan for the RIIO ED2 price controls beginning in 2023.
Opinion
‘Nanny Ofgem is missing the bigger picture’
Ofgem’s proposal to make energy suppliers repay surplus credit balances has received mixed reactions. Is the regulator cracking down on unsustainable business models or choosing short-term wins over a permanent fix for a broken market? Adam John asks what this latest crackdown says about the nature of regulation in energy retail.
Analysis

Latest in Regulation

Major firms offer ‘deal’ to Ofgem and government on EVs
A coalition of prominent companies, including Scottish Power and Severn Trent, have committed to buy 70,000 British-made electric vehicles (EVs) by 2030 at the latest, providing government and Ofgem commit to specific actions on transport decarbonisation.
News
Offering a helping hand
Energy suppliers representing 90 per cent of domestic customers have signed up to fresh commitments to support those worried about paying bills this winter. Energy UK deputy chief executive Audrey Gallacher looks at what else the sector is doing to help struggling billpayers.
Opinion
Institutional energy reforms are ‘unfinished business’
The institutional reforms to the energy industry recently proposed by the government and Ofgem represent “unfinished business,” an influential academic has argued. Catherine Mitchell, professor of energy policy at the University of Exeter, described the proposals as “tantalising” and stated: “It’s really irritating that they just have not gone that extra step.”
News
CO2 removals market could match water sector revenues by 2050
The National Infrastructure Commission (NIC) has advised the government to avoid “picking winners” among greenhouse gas removal technologies and to rapidly introduce market frameworks to support various options. The NIC wants the government to commit to deploying five to ten megatonnes of engineered removals of carbon dioxide by 2030, rising to between 40 and 100 megatonnes by 2050.
News
Concerns raised over proposed abolition of energy code panels
An industry analyst has raised concerns over the proposed abolition of code panels as part of planned reforms to energy code governance. Tom Edwards, senior modelling consultant for Cornwall Insight and a member of the Balancing and Settlement Code panel, said the code managers that would take on many of the panels' functions may lack their frontline expertise. Meanwhile, Citizens Advice has welcomed the chance to tidy up what it considers a fragmented and inefficient system.
News
Brearley braces customers for price cap increase
Ofgem chief executive Jonathan Brearley has issued a warning to customers to prepare for likely major increases to the price cap as a result of rising wholesale costs. Writing ahead of the announcement Brearley warned consumers that while nothing has yet been finalised the cap could rise by as much as £150.
News
Safety of CCUS seen as top priority for public
Ensuring the safety and effectiveness of carbon capture usage and storage (CCUS) are the top two priorities for the public, recent government research has revealed. The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), in partnership with UK Research and Innovation’s Sciencewise programme, commissioned Traverse to deliver a public dialogue to understand citizens’ attitudes towards CCUS.
News
Ofwat confirms temporary price increases for retail
Ofwat has confirmed its decision to temporarily increase the maximum prices business retailers are permitted to charge as a result of increased levels of bad debt. Under the regulator's plans, where bad costs across the market exceed 2 per cent of revenue, retailers will bear 25 per cent of the costs, with the rest passed on to customers.
News
EA proposes flexibility for WINEP
The Environment Agency has proposed allowing water companies up to 25 years to deliver on environmental programmes and extending the timeframe for the Water Industry National Environmental Programme (WINEP) from five to ten years.
News
CSOs and meeting EPAs prioritised for PR24
Meeting environmental targets and cutting the use of combined sewer overflows have been outlined as key priorities for Ofwat to incentivise in the next price review. Defra has instructed the regulator to make environmental planning and pollution reduction top objectives, in its draft strategic policy statement (SPS) for PR24 and beyond.
News
BEIS unveils plans to tackle ‘market distortion’ from ECO
The government has outlined plans to tackle a market distortion from the energy company obligation (ECO), with a view to eventually removing supplier thresholds. In a new consultation, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy set out how it intends to expand the ECO scheme so more small suppliers would be obligated.
News
What will a future system operator be asked to do?
Utility Week explores the wide range of new roles and responsibilities an independent energy system operator may be asked to take on. These include a possible statutory duty to advise government, Ofgem, code managers, councils and other bodies, as well as taking on some secretary of state functions with regard to the Capacity Market and playing an active part in the rollout of hydrogen and CCUS.
Analysis
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